Angel of Destruction
by Ebony Feathers
Summary: .05 finds a strange girl in the streets. She has a few...abilities not unlike his and the rest of the Umbrella Academy's. But who is this girl? Can they trust her?
1. In a Glass Coffin

I. Glass Coffin

.05 watched idly from the air as a hooligan wearing a mask crept from a red van up to a wall. Planning to pepper it with graffiti, no doubt. Well, that was no concern of his. He prepared to fly on when he heard one of the men say, "Lower her carefully."

.05 was a tad interested. After all, Costello's wouldn't close for another two hours. Maybe this was worthwhile. He might even enjoy a good show. He floated down to a rooftop overlooking the scene.

Two men lowered what looked like a five foot long glass box out of the van. Two others helped them unload it. The man at the wall seemed to be watching the process carefully. Obviously he seemed like the leader. "Let's get Sleeping Beauty out of her bed and dump her here. She'll live for only a few hours anyway. She'll have no opportunity ever to fly with her wings or play fortune teller." The others snickered at his command.

They set the glass box on the floor. And then fell unconscious as .05 sprayed knocked their lights out, one punch each to the face.

He walked casually to the box, stepping over the prone forms of the men.

When he got there, even he was surprised.

The glass box had several wires running throughout and outside of it. And some of them were connected to a girl lying in the box.

She looked about ten years old, judging from her stature. She had wires connected to her chest, her fingers, her toes (she had no shoes on, and was wearing what looked like a hospital nightgown), her neck. Some were snaking up to her face but a sheet covered her whole face.

"Well, well, well," .05 muttered, glancing speculatively at the girl. "This is an extremely interesting situation."

From what the men had said, the girl was going to die soon. He wouldn't have time to interrogate the men.

He would have to go home and let his siblings study her and maybe even save her, _if _she proves to be special. Well, the wings comment certainly was interesting. Especially the _fortune telling _part.

Well, there goes Costello's.

.

.

.

"Well?"

Séance was standing next to the glass box, his fingers lightly touching the material. He looked at .05.

"There's a life force in here. Very weak, though. I also sense some _power_ in her…"

"Oh, really?" asked Vanya interestedly. "Did you develop that power, too?"

Séance sighed. He was _so_ underestimated in this family. "Maybe. I get strong vibrations from her…"

Before Vanya could ask more, Rumor and Space entered the room. Kraken entered after them, looking at the glass box in the center of the room.

"So what's the situation in here?" Space asked in true team leader style. .05 rolled his eyes a little, but told the others how he came upon the girl's body.

Rumor slid her fingers over the glass case. "So you think this girl is something special?" The others looked at .05 curiously.

"Maybe."

Rumor just shrugged and stared at the girl.

"Oh," Séance murmured softly. "We'd better break her out of the box," he said, looking at .05. "If we don't, she'll die for sure."

They all looked at .05. He made a decision quickly.

"Break it any way you can."

.

.

.

Shards of glass littered the room, the box proving to be very strong. The glass box and all the wires that were around it were reduced to scrap. The girl lay in the middle of the rubble on a thin bed of glass.

.05 lifted the cloth over the girl's face. All the Umbrella Academy members were surprised at the girl's beauty.

She had long, wavy red hair that reached all the way to her waist. .05 touched her shoulder and shook her. She sat up and yawned, looking in .05's face.

Suddenly, every muscle in her body tensed, and she did something that surprised even .05.

She snapped white wings out from her spine and tried to fly out a window, but Space caught her by the ankle. She flapped and almost dragged Space off his feet until Séance interfered with her mind and caused her to crash on the floor, glass tinkling noisily. The girl was knocked out cold.

"I didn't expect her to be _that _weird!" Séance exclaimed as he floated glass out of the room and into a trash can.


	2. Interrogation

II. Interrogation

The girl woke up in a dark room. She tried to flap her wings, but--there's something on her back that didn't allow her to take her wings out.

Crap.

She started to cry, tears leaking out of her eyes. Won't her life just stop? What would they do now, cut her wings off?

A very thin ray of light permeated the otherwise dark room, and the lights were turned on.

A boy entered the room, almost piercing her with his gaze. She flinched and looked away, on the pretense of studying the room.

It was an admittedly nice room. She was even lying on a bed that had actual sheets. Still…this could just be a ploy to get her off her guard. But she reveled in the feeling of what seemed like silk sheets under her, and the soft pillow cradling her head to boot.

The boy stood almost at the edge of the bed, almost in reach of her hands. Her hands! She wondered why she hadn't noticed before. She wasn't bound in any way to the bed--nor to the wall. That was certainly strange.

"You are finally awake, I see."

The girl jerked in surprise. "How long have I been asleep?" The words were an ugly rasp in her throat. "Water, please," she managed to get out before dissolving into a coughing fit. The boy produced a small pill from a pocket. She eyed it with suspicion until he popped half of it in his mouth.

"It's a moisturizer. For the throat."

She took the other half and swallowed it. It was even better than water, cooling her throat with a fruity balm.

"What are you?"

She looked surprised, gray eyes staring in his. .05 felt a little uncomfortable, if he even had that emotion.

"Emotions? You still have a few."

.05 looked at her, completely bulldozed. _She had read his mind!_

"So who are _you_?" The girl asked, sitting up in the bed.

"I asked you first." .05 was annoyed (if he _did _have that emotion).

"Oh. I can see you're not a bad guy."

.05 raised an eyebrow.

"But you're not exactly a good guy either."

.05's eyebrow settled back into its usual groove.

"I think I'm still fairly human." .05 raised his eyebrows. "But…I'm called Caduceus by some."

.05 raised both eyebrows. "Caduceus? Why that particular name?"

Caduceus' defenses raised a notch. "I…hum…it's because of the wings."

.05 looked at her, trying to discern her thoughts behind the gray eyes. She turned away from his gaze.

"Will you…will you kill me?" Caduceus' voice trembled a little, and .05 noticed it. She caught his eye and he was surprised at the intensity of her gaze. For a ten-year-old, she seemed much more complex than that. Caduceus' mouth opened, perhaps to speak again, but her eyes closed and she fell against .05, who had rushed up to her as soon as he saw her eyes closing.

Caduceus murmured something as he arranged her on the bed. "…Not a ten-year-old…"

As .05 turned to close the door he looked at Caduceus a final time before leaving the room. Tear tracks shone on her face. .05 turned the lights off and closed the door, feeling slightly disturbed.

.

.

.

.05 was standing in front of Caduceus' door. She seemed like a ten-year-old, and yet she didn't. What was going on! He sighed in frustration.

He heard footsteps coming near him. It was Luther.

"We're leaving for Antarctica. Heard there's a situation about some monster polar bears and a giant squid…"

.05 jumped up. "I'm coming with you!" Space looked at him. "What about that girl? She's your responsibility, not ours. We can manage without you, you know." When he saw .05's look of fury, he added quickly, "Not that I'm questioning your skills."

When it became obvious that Space really could only take Kraken and leave him, .05 stamped around in a fury, finally waking Caduceus, who went down to find .05 sulking in the living room.

"You're angry." Caduceus looked at him with her gray eyes. "Yes, I damned am," .05 fumed. To think he would be left here with only Séance and Vanya for company, them having taken Rumor with them, even in her powerless state.

Caduceus sat beside him on the couch. He jerked with surprise, but she didn't seem to notice.

"You have been very kind…The bed was scrumptious." He stared at her. "I mean… you might kill me and all, but I still want to say thank you for the best night's sleep I've ever had."

She stared into space, as if absorbing everything around her. .05 cleared his throat. When she didn't look at him, he coughed loudly.

"Oh! Are you sick?" she asked, concern in her voice. "No," .05 replied shortly. "I just wanted to get your attention."

"Ok."

A few moments of silence ensued. Finally, Caduceus asked .05, "Do you want me to tell you something?"

"How old are you?"

"Me?" Caduceus seemed surprised. "Maybe thirty or more…I've been too long asleep in that box."

Thirty, .05 thought. Or more. She really isn't a ten-year-old _if _she really is telling the truth.

"I _am_ telling the truth."

.05 looked up. "Will you stop doing that!"

"Doing what?"

"Reading my mind!"

"Oh. Sorry. Ok."

Just then, Vanya entered the room. "Oh, .05, breakfast is ready…" Her voice trailed off as she saw Caduceus. "Good morning!" Caduceus chirped out, running to Vanya. "Will you please take this off my wings?" She turned her gray eyes on her, pleading. Vanya shrugged and undid the device with a nod from .05.

"Ah…it feels so good…" Caduceus snapped out 11-foot wings and hovered a few feet above the ground, nightdress swirling around her, hair floating out.

Vanya stepped back from her, a little disoriented. "Um…were you born with that?"

Caduceus laughed, the sound a bitter pealing of silver bells. "No. I-I'm sorry, but… I don't really like talking about it."

.05 stared at her, trying not to _think _anything.

"I-I'm sorry…" Caduceus repeated. "I think…I'm passing out."

And .05 and Vanya watched as she fell to the carpeted floor, wings a limp blanket around her.


	3. Secrets

III. Secrets

Caduceus woke up in the nice room. Again.

_Why am I fainting so much?_ she wondered. No matter.

She had been tortured by more nightmares, waking up with the feeling that she'd been hit on her back--hard.

She stood up and tried to feel her back, see if the nightmare was real. As she fingered a sore spot on her back, just in reach of her fingers, memories of the past few hours filtered into her brain. With a groan, she saw herself hitting the floor.

She checked the door. Yep, it's locked. The Hargreeves were taking great pains to be careful.

At least they let her keep the bed. And those lovely silk sheets.

She fished out a small locket hidden by her nightgown's neckline. Undoing the clasp, she stared at it. Dangling it from her fingers, it caught light from the setting sun, (from the window--locked, of course) throwing dancing shards of light all over the room.

As she started to open the locket, she heard footsteps down the hall. It was coming closer and closer. She could feel the strangely cold mind of the boy who had interrogated her the night before.

She hid the locket beneath the pillow (not the greatest hiding place but she was sure the people here didn't have a maid and took care of their own bedrooms) and sat down on the bed just as .05 entered the room.

They stared at one another for a while. Caduceus restrained herself from probing into his mind.

.05 was still wondering whether he should sock Spaceboy one for not bringing him along on the Antarctic skirmish. He's going to hate the smug look on Kraken's face when they come back for sure.

They didn't break eye contact for two minutes until .05 felt a little uncomfortable and shook his head slightly.

"Hello."

Caduceus smiled at .05. .05 nodded at her. "Come down with me. Vanya wants to meet you. Séance, too."

"Who are they?" Caduceus asked, following .05 to the door. With a gentlemanliness he didn't know he had, he gestured for her to go first. Caduceus acknowledged this with another smile and skipped down the hall. "They're my siblings. Adopted."

As they walked towards the staircase, .05 noticed Caduceus was a few inches smaller than him. He felt pleased that he was not the smallest person in the house now. He caught himself. They would send Caduceus away once they'd figured out she's not a threat, which he hoped she isn't.

.05 shook his head. _Why am I trying to tell myself that this girl is not a threat to me and my family?_ He asked himself. _I must examine the situation objectively. And study all of Caduceus' facets._

They reached the staircase and went down into the living room where they found Vanya and Séance waiting for them. Séance looked interestedly at Caduceus and Caduceus stared back at him.

Vanya smiled hesitantly at Caduceus, who smiled back, tearing her gaze away from Klaus.

"This is Caduceus," .05 announced, even though he had told the other two about Caduceus.

"Why don't we sit down?" Vanya said, sitting down on a plush couch. Caduceus sat beside her, .05 sat on his favorite armchair, and Séance sprawled on his favorite couch. Séance asked Caduceus, "So where'd you come from?"

"I…" the three of them looked at her intently. "I…really don't remember."

The silence that greeted this was interrupted by .05's communicator. Flipping it open, he asked, "Yes"

"It's Luther. We're coming home tonight. Is the girl still there?"

"Yes." .05 kept his replies short, to keep Caduceus from knowing about their conversation. He hoped she wasn't reading his mind. She was involved in a conversation with Vanya, yet .05 tried to clear all his thoughts about her from his mind (which isn't easy, even for him).

"I want to talk to her. Don't let her escape."

.05 restrained a snort. Luther acted like Caduceus was their hostage. .05 caught himself. Why is he thinking like this? He _must _observe the situation objectively…

".05?" Luther's voice cut in on his internal battle with himself. "Y-yes?" he stuttered out, cursing himself. He could practically see Kraken (whom he knew was listening in on this) smirking.

"Do what I said."

"Of course. I'm not an idiot, Luther. I know what to do in situations like this."

"See you tonight."

.05 snapped his communicator shut, shoving it into his breast pocket. "The other members of the family are coming home tonight."

"And that means…?" Vanya asked, glancing at Caduceus.

"That means we'll save the questions for later."

Séance wandered off after a final look at Caduceus. "Maybe I'll go to sleep," Vanya mumbled, walking off to her room.

"What am I supposed to do?" Caduceus asked .05. "You can sleep," he answered irritably.

Caduceus glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner. "It's only five thirty pm and I've just slept. Can't I go around the manor?"

.05 answered, "You need supervision for that. There are many restricted places around here."

"Can't you be my tour guide?" she asked, gray eyes pleading. .05 yelled "No!"

But it was only in his mind. What came out was:

"OK."


	4. Underneath a Star Studded Sky

IV. Under a Star-Studded Sky

.05 couldn't believe himself. After taking Caduceus in a tour around the manor (showing only the "non-restricted" parts of it), they were now sitting on the rooftop.

Caduceus sat silently, gazing out into the now-dark sky. They had been silent for almost half an hour now. Caduceus savored the cool breeze and the stars twinkling above them.

"I love the stars."

.05 was startled from his reverie. He glanced at Caduceus, who was sitting beside him. He wondered why he could tolerate being so close to someone when most people made him want to shoot them (e.g. Diego).

"Never really cared much about them."

"But why?" Caduceus turned to him, a question in her big gray eyes. "They look so beautiful, winking at us."

.05 looked back at her silently.

"When I was asleep in the box, I dreamed about stars. They told me beautiful things, and showed me kindness.

"That's why I love the stars. They were my only companions the whole time I spent in that box."

.05 studied her face, her wide-open eyes to search for signs of craziness. She looked peaceful, her eyes reflecting the starlight.

"Thank you."

He heard a hint of a sob in her voice and was surprised to see tears caught on her lashes. "What for?" he asked, confused (he seemed to be accumulating a lot of emotions just taking to this freaky girl).

"Hum… for being kind. For not tying me up. For releasing me from the glass prison."

For once in his life, .05 was dumbstruck. "You're welcome, I guess."

"You people are nice," she said, smiling. .05 noticed that her hair's fiery red was leeched off by the starlight, making it shine a silvery color.

Caduceus laughed, and .05 marveled at its tinkling quality. "I don't even know your name yet!"

.05 stared at her. "Didn't you already look into my mind?"

She looked shocked. "Of course I didn't! So what's your name?"

.05 digested this new bit of information. She didn't intrude on his privacy. That was actually…nice.

"I'm .05."

".05…" Caduceus rolled his name around in her tongue. "The number of stars that I'm staring at right now."

.05 felt his mouth stretch into a smile. "You could say that with any number."

"No, look, I'm telling the truth." He followed her pointing finger. "Those stars are the brightest of all the stars I can see. And from the gazillions of stars in the sky, that's special, I can tell you."

She smiled at him.

.05 smiled, the first carefree expression he'd had since who knows when.

She closed her eyes and leaned sideward slightly against him. He was surprised at himself for not pushing her away. They remained like this for almost five minutes until they saw Spaceboy, Kraken and Rumor approaching the house. "Let's go down to them," he said, rising and offering his hand to help her up. She took it, and he felt an electric tingle up his spine.

They went down, still holding hands but breaking away when they had walked down the length of the stairs. Nevertheless, .05 felt an emotion he hadn't felt—ever—in his life.

Happiness.


	5. Revelations and Stars

V. Revelations and the Stars

As they walked into the living room, .05 tried to calm down from the hand-holding scene. Why was he feeling like this?! He tried to act cool, calm, collected. But when he saw a flash of Caduceus' hair, he nearly failed. Closing his eyes and stopping for a moment, he conjured up an image of Diego.

He felt his old self taking over. He strode confidently into the living room and stood near the fireplace (he hated sitting because it made the others tower over him even more than when they were standing and didn't want Diego to feel the satisfaction of seeing that his feet barely rested on the floor).

He saw Caduceus in the corner of his eye, chatting with Vanya. What do females have to talk about all the time, anyway? He shook that question off.

Diego looked up from cleaning his fingernails with his knife as .05 cleared his throat. All the people in the room looked at him.

"Good evening." .05 looked at Luther. For the first time in his life, he actually _wanted _Luther to take over instead of him.

There seemed to be a lot of first-times happening to .05 since Caduceus arrived.

"Well, it seems that you have a few talents, young lady." Space gestured at Caduceus.

"Yes, sir." Caduceus sat up ramrod straight on the couch she shared with Vanya. Rumor eyed Caduceus suspiciously.

"And you were… imprisoned before .05 released you?"

"Affirmative, sir."

.05 was feeling his mouth twitch into a smile. Vanya hid a laugh behind her hand, and Séance giggled a little and tried (unconvincingly) to pass it off as a cough. Kraken was still debating on what to do: smirk at Luther's "team leader" façade or intimidate the girl by scowling at her when Space asked, "Where did you come from?"

The room fell silent, every member of the Umbrella Academy looking at her, waiting for her response. Caduceus said, devoid of mirth now, "I was… experimented upon by scientists. They gave me bird DNA. They tortured me."

Luther cleared his throat, obviously disturbed by this, even considering how Hargreeves had treated them. .05 kept his face devoid of expression, but his thoughts were running over each other in his head.

"Why were you in that box?"

Caduceus sighed. It was a low, heartbroken sound. .05 looked at her in alarm. Maybe Luther was questioning her too much…

"They decided I was no use for them. I tried to escape from their laboratory, but I was caught. They wanted to make me a military weapon, but when I resisted their efforts, they locked me in the box. My time limit for surviving is thirty-one years. That means I would have died if you hadn't taken me out. They took me out for a short while once every six years, to see if I had submitted, but I didn't _ever_ agree. If I wasn't taken out permanently before the time limit was over, I'd die."

All six members of the Umbrella Academy looked shocked. Even .05 and Kraken.

"How…awful." Vanya murmured. Caduceus said, "As for my mind reading? I was born with that."

"Are those all your questions?" Caduceus stared with a stone-hard look into Luther's face.

Luther nodded, disoriented because of the revelations she had shared. He walked out of the room, saying, "I'm going to bed." Rumor went out after him with the same excuse. After staring absently at Caduceus, Séance plunked himself down on his favorite soft couch and turned the TV on full volume as if there was no one else in the room. Vanya covered her ears and walked out of the room after a good night to Caduceus. Kraken hurried after Vanya but not before shooting .05 with a look of suspicion.

.05 stared after them. He noticed Caduceus sitting by herself on the couch, staring into the flames.

"Let's get out of here," he muttered, pulling on Caduceus' hand. She snapped out of her musings and followed him into the dining room. It was deserted. All of them had probably eaten their dinners.

"Hungry?" .05 asked. Caduceus nodded, caught herself and said, "You don't have to worry for me."

.05 shook his head. "I have to make you comfortable…" He stopped, realizing his words.

Caduceus smiled at him. "We'll make dinner together…I think I still know how to make a bagel."

.05 smiled, marveling at the number of smiles he had produced today. It was simply colossal--for him.

.

.

.

After making cream cheese bagels, they were up on the roof again. Caduceus sat up with her legs crossed. .05 sat close next to her, trying not to feel conscious of their closeness.

Caduceus unfolded her wings, spreading them out behind her. .05 felt his muscles tense.

"I'm not going to run away. I just wanted to take them out for a little while…"

.05 relaxed.

".05?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you look like you're ten years old?"

"I… ran away from home when I was ten."

Caduceus looked at him, urging him to go on.

"I went out of this time stream and mingled with others'. And I didn't grow."

"So…you're how many years old now?" Caduceus looked at him with interest.

"At least thirty."

"Same as me."

"Yes."

Their eyes met, and Caduceus smiled. "I think… you're the nicest person I've ever known."

.05 felt a sardonic laugh coming. He let it out.

"Then you haven't met many people."

"Oh, I have." Caduceus leaned back on her elbows, letting the crisp winter air saturate her skin, and laid her legs out in front of her.

"I've met power-hungry world-leaders…phony politicians…scary men…"

She sighed.

"I…I'm sorry." .05 wanted to say a lot of things, but he couldn't seem to get them to fall of his tongue.

"It's OK." Caduceus' eyes clouded over. "It was the past, anyway…"

"You're also…the nicest person _I've _ever met."

"Really?!" Caduceus' face lit up in a happy smile. .05 felt something in his chest (his heart, he thought) beat.

"Are you…done looking at the stars?"

"Yes…I have bid them goodbye for tonight. Have you?"

.05 was surprised by this question. But as he looked at the bright cluster of five stars winking at him, he felt that maybe having stars as friends weren't as ridiculous as it sounded. He thought, _Goodbye_, and directed it to the cluster of stars.

They winked in unison.

.05 was again surprised. Caduceus took his hand. "Thank you for saying goodbye to the stars," she said solemnly.

"You're welcome." The response felt so flimsy in response to her thanks, but she didn't mind.

They descended the stairs and reached the door to Caduceus' room.

"Good night, Caduceus."

"Good night, .05."

As he let her hand go, they stared at each other. Caduceus stood up on her tiptoes and touched his cheek impulsively. She drew her hand back after a second and repeated, "G-good night, .05. Thank you for everything…"

She seemed lost for words, and .05 was feeling that way, too, but mustered up the last dregs of his wits and replied, "Good night. Sweet dreams, Caduceus."

And she shut the door and he went to his room, dazed and feeling another batch of unfamiliar emotions, emotions that he haven't had in his whole life.


	6. As the Dawn Breaks

VI. As the Dawn Breaks

She could still almost feel the skin of his cheek beneath her fingers.

From under her pillow, she retrieved the locket. It glowed in the moonlight. She wanted to throw it away but couldn't do it.

Crap.

He was so, so nice…

_I hate them! _She screamed silently in her mind. _I hate them so much._

And then, _How can I do this?_

She fell onto the bed, sobbing noiselessly.

Sweet dreams.

_He _was sweet.

She wished she could only dream of him.

Not the nightmares that haunt her.

Not of the time they made her battle twenty robots all alone. She had screamed with pain but still the bullets scraped her skin, grazing it in dozens of places, scoring her skin with white-hot scars.

Not of the times she spent doing their orders.

Not of the time she was caught.

Not of the time she was locked in the box. Alone. Without the stars for company, which was what she thought at first. But the stars came to her in her dreams, comforting her.

If only she could tell him.

If only…

Caduceus slipped into sleep.

.

.

.

.05 was striding around his room. What was he feeling? He hadn't felt like this since…well, never. Just thinking about Caduceus: her hair, her eyes, her voice—they actually made him feel…emotions.

He sat on his bed and breathed deeply in. He lay on the bed, breathing out.

Sweet dreams, he had told Caduceus. He must have read it in a book somewhere. He couldn't seem to think clearly.

It could be lack of sleep. Or he must be stressed.

There's no other alternative.

.05 closed his eyes and tried to convince himself that there _is _no other alternative.

He fell asleep and dreamed of wings and red hair.

.

.

.

Weak rays of light from the dawn filtered into .05's room. He was an early riser even if he stayed up late the night before.

He sat up on his bed, thinking of the past night's happenings. He immediately wondered if Caduceus was already up.

Dressing, he went quietly out of his room. He paused by Caduceus' door, listening. He heard a faint rustling, and knew she must be unfolding her wings. He knocked softly on the door.

".05?" Caduceus whispered from the other side of the door. "Can I use the clothes in here?" .05 figured she must be talking about the wardrobe in the room.

"Yes," he whispered back. He wondered why they were whispering. Anyway, he didn't want the whole household to know he was talking to a strange girl they barely knew.

The door suddenly opened, and .05 found himself staring at Caduceus.

She was wearing a black dress that must have belonged to either Vanya or Rumor. It was their 'uniform', the one Hargreeves designed for them. When Vanya and Allison wore those uniforms, they looked like children from an old film. But it had a different effect on Caduceus. It made her look older, more serious.

"Good morning." She gave .05 another of her bright smiles. She had braided her hair with a black ribbon she had found in the wardrobe, too.

"Morning," .05 replied.

They stood there, looking at each other until .05 cleared his throat and said, "Would you like to go to the roof again?"

"Sure."

As they walked, Caduceus reached for .05's hand..05 felt a warm tingle of pleasure throughout his whole body (which he didn't know the reason for, try as he might to think of something other than Caduceus holding his hand being the reason for this kind of feelings). They were silent all throughout the journey up to the roof.

By the time they had reached the rooftop, Caduceus still hadn't spoken although .05 had expected her to say something about how pretty the dawn sky looked, but she wasn't uttering a word. Instead, she sat with her arms encircling her knees, silent, with her wings in a blanket around her.

Her back was on.05, who was still standing, but she patted the spot beside her. He sat next to her, close enough to feel the softness of the feathers on her wings. Her face was still turned against him.

They remained silent for more than ten minutes when .05's cool was shattered. "Are you mad at me?" he asked, trying to look Caduceus in the eye but failing.

"No."

"From your very short reply I can deduce that you **are** mad at me."

"No." Caduceus enclosed herself in feathers so .05 can't see her tears. .05 found himself staring at a feathery cocoon.

"What the hell did I do wrong?" he finally burst out.

"Nothing."

"Is that the only thing you can say?"

Silence greeted his angry question. He heard a sob emanate from the mass of feathers that was Caduceus.

Alarm immediately seeped into him. He spoke softly, saying, "Please, Caduceus, just tell me…"

He touched the part of her wing in front of her face, and she folded her wings back into her spine. He saw tears welling in her gray eyes, dripping down her chin. He knelt in front of her.

"Why are crying?" Caduceus looked at him and sobbed even harder. She shook her head no and buried her face in her arms.

.05 did something that surprised them both. He put his arms around her, feeling her sobs as they shook her whole body.

".05," she said through her tears. "I can't tell you, though I want to." She buried her face into his shoulder.

"Why can't you tell me?" he asked comfortingly. He held her tighter as more violent sobs racked her body.

_I love him_, she realized. She held him, too, calming down. "I can't. I'm sorry."

.05 held her at arms' length, looking her in the eye. She tried to avoid his gaze, but he held her chin with his hand. "Tell me."

"Please…I can't."

"Why can't you tell me?" He was more confused than he was before.

Another moment of silence ensued, with the two of them looking each other in the eye. Almost unknowingly, .05 placed his hands on her shoulders, drawing her nearer to him. Caduceus closed her eyes and tried not to cry again as she met his lips with hers.

They kissed for what seemed like a single heartbeat, an hour, and eternity. .05 was surprised at himself. This is a first time for him… He liked the feeling of Caduceus' lips against his, her holding him even as he held her. He kissed her gently, stroking her back. She placed one hand on his cheek, the other around his neck.

Finally, they broke away. She leaned her head on his shoulder, still battling with her mind not to cave in and cry. She knew .05 would think it's his fault.

They stayed like this for half an hour, .05's hand on Caduceus' back, her head on his shoulders, both her arms around him.

"Let's go down for breakfast," .05 murmured huskily to Caduceus at seeing the rising sun. Caduceus nodded silently and they went down the stairs, not looking at each other, but holding hands and reliving each moment of their kiss.


	7. Spy

VII. Spy

Diego, .05 was pleased to see, had gone off on another of his night owl ventures, probably only returning in the afternoon, well after breakfast, as was his custom. Space was sleeping in, Rumor was nowhere to be seen. The people at the table were the quiet ones, Vanya and Séance.

Caduceus ate her breakfast in silence, thanking Vanya for the homemade pancakes. Then she stood up and asked to be excused from the table, heading up quickly to her room.

.05 stared in silence at his food. Vanya raised an eyebrow and asked, "What—"

"I don't know." He continued playing with his food, and Vanya looked confused. Séance sniggered from his hovering position near the table, but .05 didn't notice him. He was still thinking about a certain winged redhead.

.

.

.

Caduceus took her locket from underneath the pillow.

"What's been taking you so long?" a voice from the locket asked. "We've been waiting for you to give us the signal since yesterday!"  
"I-I'm sorry," Caduceus mumbled into the locket. "My chip must have malfunctioned."

"Oh, all right," the voice said. "So can we go in now? Are you sure the security codes are still the same?"

"Y-yes. But…are you sure that they must be disposed of? Are they really dangerous?"

"Yes, they are, Caduceus." The voice sounded calming, smooth, as sibilant as a snake's. Caduceus shuddered. "Well, we must get ready." This was followed by a long, gleeful laugh and Caduceus closed her communicator disguised as a locket.

She sat on the bed, trying to keep calm.

"Well, well, well. Our little spy."

Caduceus jumped at the sound of the voice. At her now open window was Kraken.

Caduceus backed against the wall, eyeing the knife he was filing his nails with nervously. "W-what do you mean?"

Kraken barked out a laugh. "Don't you play that game with me. Now tell me. Who were those people?"

"No one on particular." Caduceus felt her chest tighten, and her breaths came in short gasps.

"Tell me, or I'll…" Diego dismounted from the window ledge, holding his knife threateningly.

Caduceus backed into a corner, away from Diego. "P-please…"

"There's a 'No Traitors' policy in here. The penalty is death." Diego grinned a little.

"N-no…" Caduceus spread her wings, distracting Diego a little. She flew lithely around him, darting through the window.

"What the fuck—"

As he watched Caduceus fly from the window, he flipped his communicator open.

"We've got a situation here…"

.

.

.

"You must be joking."

.05 stood stock-still after having heard Kraken's account of events about Caduceus communicating with someone who wanted to eliminate them.

"No, I'm not," he said grimly.

The whole room went silent. All of them were there. .05 stared into the fireplace. This couldn't be true…

Spaceboy went into full commando mode. "Séance. Man the gates with Rumor. Kraken, guard the windows. Vanya, go with Kraken. And .05…"

All eyes were on .05.

"Do your job."

And they all filed out in a grim silence.

.

.

.

Five minutes after the meeting, .05 was standing in the guest room where Caduceus had slept in.

He gazed blankly at the bed, at a few feathers scattered around the room.

He couldn't believe it.

Images flashed in his mind, the two of them on the roof those nights, staring at the stars.

_Do your job._

Luther's words echoed in his head.

His job.

Killing people.

Shooting them… in the head.

Could he do that?

To the one he loved?

Did she love him back?

He gripped his hand around his revolver.

_Did she?_

.

.

.

"So."

"We will finally raid the house of the haughty Hargreeves. The bratty children of that annoyingly aloof man."

Caduceus shivered in her corner. "R-raid?"

The Director glared at her with its one throbbing eye. She flinched.

"Of course."

"But…But they're not the people you told me about!"

The Director stared at her.

"No, they are not bad people. _We _are the bad people. They were created to thwart us. They ruined a work of my colleague's and mine, a colleague named Dr. Terminal. A man who was denied the right of living. He just had a machine that ate Allison Hargreeves' arm, you see, Caduceus. He had to live, you see." It spoke in a deceptively calm voice.

"The right of living?" Caduceus screamed. "He ate Allison Hargreeves' goddamn _arm_! He should have died than inflict a horror like that! And you want _revenge _for the death of that ghastly being? You should die, too!"

"Oh, you think so, do you?" It smiled. "But the damage has already been done. We know the security codes for the house. We can infiltrate them, and, one by one, kill them. _Painfully_." It smiled with its synthetic mouth.

"And don't think about warning them. I'm having you tied up here."

"How can you be so cruel?" asked Caduceus, tears spilling from her lower lids. "You put that chip in me to make me do what you want. You kill the person I love—"

She stopped, realizing she had said something that was not meant to be said.

"Hmm…" It murmured. "I have not accessed all of your chip's files yet…"

It mentally scanned the chip in Caduceus' wrist.

"Ahh…the Boy. So…"

Caduceus felt panic rise in her.

"No, he's nothing… I mean, I had to pretend I was friends with him…"

"You emotion sensors show deep… feelings."

"I don't!"

The Director motioned to the guards at the door. "Change of plan. We're taking her with us at the invasion of the manor."

And ropes were lashed around Caduceus' frame as she tried to escape.


	8. Captured

_A/N: It's been a very long time since I had posted Chapter Seven of Angel of Destruction here. I thought that it wouldn't do any use 'cause virtually only one person reads it (judging on the reviews), but I realized that it wasn't for acclamation that I'm writing this, it's for adding an imaginary chapter to the adventures of the Umbrella Academy. I'll just say 'thank you' to the only person who reviews my work (THANK YOU! I really admire your work, by the way). Oh, yeah. Rumor can still speak here, though. I'm not good with timelines, though, so you'll have to make do with my shoddy timelines (wince) Sorry._

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the UA characters, etc. I only 'own' Caduceus. _

_All that said, here's Chapter VIII of Angel of Destruction. _

VIII. Captured

She had to escape.

The only question was, _how?_

There were no guards with her, for the Director had programmed her chip to keep her there, just sitting there.

She seethed with frustration, and cried at the thought of what she had brought upon _him. _

Images flashed in her head, the night they tortured her with The Mastermind, the day she was bartered for being a military weapon for a vague country, but was brought back to the Director when she had made a break for freedom.

The orphanage where she had come from… that was a vague memory, but she could still picture the scraggly lawn, the bare room.

But in between memories, she saw .05's face, felt his lips on hers, his arms around her. She put a finger to her lips, and her sobs ceased.

She knew what she would do.

She gritted her teeth. But it wasn't going to be easy.

.

.

.

The pod the Director came in had landed smack, dab in the middle of the Hargreeves' great expanse of lawn.

Luther came to meet the Director's posse, an impressive number of… were his eyes tricking him?

Luther passed a hand over his eyes. They were _aliens. _Or Little Green Men. He saw Allison mirroring the same expression he was feeling. Séance was hovering beside him, watching the parade with curiosity. Kraken had instructed Vanya to stay put in the house, and was glaring in hostility at the aliens. .05 was behind his three siblings, eyes also trained on the Director, trying to tamp Caduceus out of his mind. _She was the enemy._

The Director was enough to make a grown man feel nauseous, and he even made .05's mind wonder what this creature was, something that stopped his finger from pulling the trigger on him—or _it, _rather.

The Director was on a specially-designed chair for the array of boxes that held blood, bodily fluids, and organs in them. The transparent boxes were held together by wires in the rough shape of a human torso and a head held above the torso and held steady by a contraption on the chair. The "head" was the brain swimming in fluid held inside the box. The series of boxes that served as a "torso" held the heart, and other organs. There was no esophagus, no hands, no eyes, .05 observed.

"Hargreeves."

All five of them were surprised to hear the voice. At closer inspection, .05 saw that the thing had a "voice box" attached to its torso.

"It's payback time for what you did to my colleague."

"What colleague?" Luther asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Dr. Terminal. A most brilliant man," the thing said, its voice changing to a silky dangerousness.

Luther felt Allison stiffen with shock beside him. "You bastard!" he shouted out, and felt .05's stare restraining him from rushing at the thing with his fury. This was a friend of the man who had eaten Allison's arm. "It was just the right thing to do to him after he _ate_ Allison's arm!"

"He was a brilliant man. What was an insignificant girl's arm compared to his brilliance?" Allison stared at the creature with hatred in her eyes.

"But where are my manners?" the creature said, its brain bobbing a little as if in merriment of their discomfiture.

"I am called The Director. And I have come to rule over this little planet."

Kraken snorted, earning a warning glance from Space. "And how, exactly?"

"A good question, Diego," the Director said, and Diego stiffened at the familiarity of the name the Director called him.

"A very good question, indeed. And now I will explain."

An alien with a liquid in a glass tube came forward and stood at the Director's side. .05 noted that the alien looked remarkably like LGM, except without the 'little' part. It was over six feet tall.

"In this glass tube, I have a poison to end all human life in this planet. In only a few hours, every human on this planet will be dead, and I will control this Earth of yours. I'd raze every single inch of you planet, like I did to many others. Why will I do it? With this Earth, I could mine for deposits of uranium, titanium, different other minerals. This mansion will be my base, with the most enhanced alien technology in the galaxy that Hargreeves has built."

The Hargreeves looked at each other uneasily. "And how will you do that?" Rumor queried, trying to hide the little tremble in her voice. The Director's voice had changed to a greedy one, as if it was contemplating the wasteland he would make of Earth.

"As I have said, Hargreeves had built the most advanced facility of alien technology in that very house," the Director uttered. "And I plan to make it mine."

"You won't, you fucking monster!" Diego yelled out, rushing at the Director, ignoring Space's shout, and launching himself at the Director. The Director's chair smoothly avoided the attack, and hovered above him. The aliens surrounded Diego.

"Lights out, Hargreeves," the Director said, and .05 imagined that the brain was grinning at them.

And the six of them, including Vanya who had rushed out at just that moment, were engulfed in a cloud of gas and fell senseless to the ground.

.

.

.

God, how his head ached. .05 blearily glanced around, trying to remember what had happened. After the Director had them sprayed with the gas, he couldn't remember anything.

He tried to sit up to get his bearings. He saw that they were in a circular room with curved walls. _Like a Star Wars spaceship,_ he thought wryly. He saw that his siblings were still knocked out. _Maybe this spry ten-year-old body has its advantages, _he thought.

".05!"

.05's heart gave a lurch. _So she's here. _

"Oh, .05," Caduceus whispered breathlessly. "Are you hurt?"

He felt white-hot anger. "You traitor," he muttered. "Would you even care?"

Caduceus bit her lip. _Keep it in. _"I'm sorry… of course I care!" Her whisper got a little louder.

"You think this could be mended with a single sorry?" he asked, eyeing the _Star Wars _exit, with bands of electricity serving as the door.

"The Director has me controlled by a chip in my body," she said, her voice flat. "It was planted in me when I was created, from a test tube. I was even sent to an orphanage for a short time when I was traded as a military weapon to some country then found by social service workers on the street. That was when the Director "adopted" me."

.05 found himself wanting to believe her. _Why?_

"I heard all that the Director said. And I don't want that to happen. So even if you don't trust me, I know one of you—or all of you—would like to hurt me."

.05 blinked. "What?"

The others had woken up now, and were staring at Caduceus in suspicion, or hatred, or both.

"The chip that prevents me from leaving this room, and has programmed me to fight you when you try to leave it is buried at the roots of my wings. Cut my wings off and pick the chip from my back, and we—or you, at least—can get out of here and stop the Director."

Vanya gasped, and Luther looked uncomfortable at the thought of tearing the girl's back open.

"How about we get out here?" Diego said, rushing at the door. Caduceus snapped her wings out and flew at the door, barring it from him.

"This'll burn you bad, and besides, the chip is telling me to fight you if you try to access the door." Eyes glazed, Caduceus looked into Kraken's good eye. "So please, just take the chip out."

.05 wanted to scream out in frustration. He didn't want to hurt Caduceus, yet—

Space made his decision. "I'll fight you," he said, taking a step forward at Caduceus, earning a dirty look from Diego.

"I'd rather not…" Caduceus began, but her body jerked. "The chip—"

Space charged at her, a huge arm whipping out to punch her in the stomach. But she suddenly wasn't there, and he felt a surprisingly hard kick to his back, and saw Caduceus hovering above him.

"Step away from the door!" Caduceus screamed in a whisper. "Do you want me to kill you?" Allison gasped. "And, Rumor, your power doesn't work here," she added, neatly evading Space's punch intended for her face. Rumor gritted her teeth in frustration as she watched Space missing and Caduceus dealing him kicks.

"I'm sorry!" Caduceus said in a whisper that carried through the room. "But you can't win against me. I was—" she avoided Space's punch "—genetically modified! Just step away from the door before I knock you out!" Allison bit her lip.

"Stop, Luther," she said. "Step away." Luther, gritting his teeth from the kicks and punches Caduceus had dealt him.

"Take the chip out," Caduceus said, looking directly at .05. He didn't flinch, but he didn't move, either.

"Time is ticking away for all of us... the Director will unleash its potion through a mechanism your adoptive father created, and the water, even the air, will be polluted, and every living thing on Earth will die. At least, that's what he told me." Caduceus frowned. "But If you still refuse to do it..." She flew to Diego and swiftly filched the knife from his hand. He almost yelled, but remembered where they were.

Caduceus held the knife to her wing, closing her eyes. Suddenly, the knife was wrenched from her hands.

"I'll do it," .05 said. "I believe you."


	9. Cut Wings

_A/N: Really happy 'cause one other person commented ((: (THANK YOU!) Which is why I put up this next chapter much more quickly than I did the last one. I'm planning on making sequels for this, but I'm still debating whether my writing's good enough _ .Anyway... just a note. Rumor still speaks here, but Vanya's living with them. Huh. I read that Rumor got her voice back, so maybe this story is after Volume 1, but I dunno. (I'm such a dummy.) I haven't read Volume number 2 of UA yet, so sorry... we don't get them here. I'm trying to find a way to get it shipped from Dubai or something without my parents knowing. They'd probably take it away from me the moment they saw the gore *winces*. Well. Here's Chapter IX of Angel of Destruction..._

Cut Wings

Even though it was Caduceus' idea, she still trembled at the idea of a knife probing into her back. With_out _anesthesia_._ But she bit her lip resolutely and cried, inside. Nobody would care, anyway. .05 flipped the knife in his hand, noting the steely glint of it as it caught the light from the lamp above. He could feel the others' eyes on him. He glanced over at Caduceus, who was standing before him, holding herself tightly. This shattered him, but he knew it was the right decision.

"Diego," .05 muttered. "Could you do it?"

All of them looked in surprise at .05, but he ignored their stares. "Diego, _can _you?"

Diego understood what .05 meant. He strode over to .where .05 and Caduceus where standing and took the knife from .05's hand and replaced it with another from his boot. As .05 raised his eyebrow at him, Diego just muttered, "This'll save her a little pain, believe me." So .05 let him.

"Get me a gag," Caduceus instructed. Vanya came over and handed Diego her own coat, hastily put on when she rushed out of the house. Diego tore it a roughly linear shape from its hem, and handed the piece of cloth to Caduceus, who stuffed it into her mouth.

"Does any of you have any anesthetic?" .05 asked, breaking the reserve he had. All of them shook their heads, but looked at Klaus.

"Why are you all looking at me?" he asked warily.

"Klaus?" Vanya asked softly. "Don't you have some?" Caduceus closed her eyes. This was going longer than she had thought. Her heart was beating so loud that she almost couldn't force oxygen into her lungs. _Calm down,_ she told herself. _It's no use if you start hyperventilating. _

"Okay, okay!" Klaus muttered. "I have a little morphine, emphasis on 'little'." He handed a small syringe to .05, who raised an eyebrow again but didn't say anything. They all knew about Klaus, anyway.

He injected the pitifully small amount of morphine into Caduceus and realized with a sinking heart that it really _wasn't _enough to block the pain completely. It was only enough to deaden the pain a little. Quoting Klaus, emphasis on 'little'.

"Are we ready?" Diego asked, glancing at Caduceus. She nodded.

The first cut was agony, ripping into the black cloth of her dress, going through the base of her left wing. Diego tried to be delicate, but that just wasn't his job. .05 saw that, and gritted his teeth. The others watched in silence.

If the first cut was agony, the second was pure torture, going a little deeper. She bit down hard on the cloth gag. _You've faced more than this. _

Klaus flinched, and Vanya asked him what the matter was, eager to think of other topics than the girl whose back was being cut open.

"I can hear her screams in my mind," he said, flinching again. Vanya glanced quickly at Caduceus, but the girl was in too much pain to hear what Klaus had said.

Caduceus almost fainted as the knife carved under her wing, but she had to stay awake. Blood was dripping down her back, and the nerves in her wing screamed out. She threw out an arm to support herself in her sitting position as Kraken lightly skimmed the knife around the roughly circular cut he had made around her left wing's base. Caduceus gasped heavily as she felt the knife probing. It felt like it had gone right through her ribs. No matter. Her life for the world was a small compensation.

Apparently .05 didn't think so. "She's going to die, Diego," he whispered.

"I know," Diego said in a cold tone.

"It's—okay." Caduceus managed to force out. "I—don't think its in the left wing. Try the right one."

The two stared at the limp wing, and the deep cuts on the left side of her spine.

"Are you sure?" .05 asked.

"Yes," she replied.

.05held her hand. "I-" He looked around. Luther and Allison were apparently discussing something in low voices, and Vanya and Diego were cleaning his knife and talking in another corner of the room. .05 knelt beside her, ripping his coat off and using it to stanch the blood, but it kept leaking out.

"I love you," .05 whispered. He supported Caduceus with the arm that wasn't holding the cloth to her back. Caduceus' eyes filled with tears. So he did love her.

"I love you, too," she whispered back, taking the gag out, trying not to choke on the tears clogging her throat, tears that were different from the tears of pain earlier.

Diego approached them, breaking the tension between them. .05 didn't back off as Diego took his place kneeling behind Caduceus. .05 took the cloth from Caduceus back, seeing the blood had already spread all over it, as Caduceus put the gag back into her mouth, taking care to roll it into a ball again.

Diego made a cut around the base of her right wing, and it was all she could do not to scream out, pressing .05's hand. He winced, not at the force of her grip, but at the tears of pain in her eyes, and at the sound of the blood dripping down. She reached her arms out, and he let her lean against him as Diego made the second cut.

At this, Caduceus mercifully fainted. Allison drew a shuddering breath, and even Luther grit his teeth. Vanya clenched the hem of her shirt in her hands as Diego made the final cut, completing the circle around her wing, revealing nerves connecting the wing to the body.

After probing the wound, Diego felt something against the point of his knife. He probed deeper, making .05 bite his lip even tighter and Caduceus unconsciously clutch at him.

Finally, Diego drew the knife up in a deft motion, taking the chip with it, and severed wing nerves to boot. Caduceus' eyes opened for a moment in agony, and .05 whispered, "We got it."

And she sank back into the merciful darkness again, oblivious of the blood running down her back.

.

.

.

Luther and Allison had gone out of the room, with Luther throwing a steel bar he had torn from the low ceiling at the door with electricity, causing an explosion which resulted in an "open" door—and about a dozen aliens assaulting them.

The sight of the bloodied Caduceus in .05's arms obviously excited the aliens, and one took its communicator out, but before it could even turn it on, Diego had leapt up and killed it. It quickly developed into a skirmish, but the aliens were weak and didn't have weapons, clearly confident that Caduceus would easily have disposed of the Umbrella Academy.

The others rushed out , but .05 stayed by Caduceus for a while when he saw her eyelids flicker at the noise. Luther nodded at .05 to indicate that he could stay, if only for a while.

"Got it out," Caduceus mumbled faintly against his chest. .05 desperately tried to stanch the bleeding, but it was coming too fast.

"Bandage," she murmured, taking in huge gulps of air. With only a slight hesitation, .05 tore her dress completely, and, taking Vanya's coat left on the floor, winding it around her back and chest, using it as a bandage. The flow of blood was slightly diminished, but her wings hung in a lifeless heap around her. She gasped at the sight of a feather floating in blood, but didn't have the strength to cry.

Diego sprinted back into the room. "I'll take her somewhere safe, if you want," he told .05, who nodded gratefully. "We've disarmed the whole ship, and we're preparing to launch an attack on the Director at the house." .05 nodded again as Diego took Caduceus from his arms, and together they went out of the room with blood splattered all over the floor and feathers scattered all around.


	10. Denouement

Denouement

Diego laid Caduceus down on a bench in the garden after checking that all of the other aliens were in the house. .05 used a garment he had snatched from the ship to use it to pillow Caduceus' head on the stone bench as Diego placed her facedown, so as not to put pressure on her back. He'd asked Diego to cut the pitiful remainder of her wings while she was unconscious.

"Caduceus, we're going in to kill the Director, okay?" .05 whispered to her as Diego sprinted off to the mansion.

Her eyes opened, and in one lucid moment, she said, "I'm really sorry, .05... for everything."

"It's all right," he whispered.

Her eyes dilated as his words finally registered in her brain. "No—the Director is powerful—something you could never conquer-"

She slipped off into a faint again.

.05 swallowed.

He got up, and then ran off towards the mansion, revolver in hand.

He did not look back.

.

.

.

He found the others crouching near a pile of alien bodies at the foot of the staircase. "Are we clear?" .05 whispered, and Space nodded.

"Where could the Director have gone?" Space muttered.

"It said something about 'Hargreeves' laboratory' right? Could it be the 'off limits' room on the third floor?" They all looked at Vanya as she spoke, and one by one nodded.

"That's the most logical place he could be in. " Space led the way to the stairs.

"Vanya, stay here," .05 heard Diego say.

"I won't," she said adamantly. "I'm done with standing by and waiting and worrying while you go and fight monsters. Just like in the old days." She said the last sentence in a whisper. The others were already mounting the stairs.

"Vanya, just stay here," .05 muttered. The two looked at him, both wearing looks of surprise. She nodded, and Diego and .05 went up the stairs together. "Thanks," Diego muttered.

"I know," .05 said in reply.

.

.

.

The third floor was the most mysterious of the floors in the manor. It was where Hargreeves lurked when he wasn't in his study, behind that 'off-limits' door. Even after he died, not one of his adopted children ventured there, certain that nothing their father ever did would amount to anything. But there they were, stepping lightly in front of the door.

They all looked at each other. There were clanking noises from inside. Then they all burst in.

The place was full of the Tall Green Men, and they looked surprised to see the Umbrella Academy there. .05 saw a big device on a platform high above them, and also saw the Director sitting there in its chair, helpless without appendages.

For the first five minutes, they had the upper hand. Space was punching aliens into pulp, Allison was dealing damage with her Rumoring, .05 was firing his gun with deadly accuracy. Even Séance, who wasn't as full of drugs as he usually was, caused heavy damage. Kraken was used to these situations, and disposed of the approaching aliens with his knife. And the alien crowds grew thinner...

That was the first five minutes. The Director turned the tables on them.

It affected Allison first. "I heard a rumor that those kind of weapons are useless on humans!" The weapons the aliens were brandishing didn't change, but-

And then there was the screaming pain in her head. She screamed, once, twice, thrice- and then Space was beside her. She hadn't noticed that she was curled up in pain on the floor, but then, the pain was too great that she was past noticing things like that.

"What is it-" Space started, then felt a stab of pain in his brain. He also fell to the floor, writhing in pain. Images flashed in his brain-

It was Séance next, screaming out swear words, then just screamed when his brain couldn't form coherent words anymore. Diego fell, too, not even trying to suppress his screams—the pain was too great.

But it was .05 that was most affected. He felt the agonizing pain, too—it was like flames, knives, ice, any torture imaginable was being applied to his brain. He fainted.

Through the haze of pain, he saw them. People he'd killed. Blood stained their clothes, contrasting horribly with a woman's pristine white gown, horribly dyeing a man's skin red. .05 felt the emotion—it was _fear. _He screamed as the people approached him, whispering malevolently...

From the platform high above, the Director's brain seemed to grin triumphantly.

.

.

.

Vanya started up the stairs, ice coursing through her veins. The screams sounded animal, but a moment ago she could have sworn it was human.

"Vanya, wait-!"

It was Caduceus. Her back was still tied with the bandage, but the bleeding had stopped, Vanya noted.

"Caduceus! How can you be up?" Vanya looked up as screams still tore the air.

"Genetically modified... can heal quickly... though I'm not fully healed yet... The Director's torturing them... let's hurry..."

They rushed up the stairs, Caduceus stumbling a little as pain tore through her back. On the second floor, Vanya silently picked a revolver up. This should be useful...

They had reached the forbidden door. Vanya reached for the knob as more agonized screams (if that was even possible) ripped the air.

"We won't be affected by the Director's brain, Vanya-" Caduceus kicked the door open, and they rain in to find total carnage everywhere.

The room was massive, resembling a space station.

"Diego!" Vanya rushed to Kraken, who was screaming out with his eyes open, thrashing on the floor. "God, what is it, Caduceus?"

"The Director's aiming at the most sensitive parts of the brain- .05!"

.05 was moving on the floor, screaming words out. "Don't—don't come near me! I'm not sorry for what I've done—Aah!" His cheeks were wet with tears. Caduceus instinctively moved toward him.

"Don't! Don't come near!" His eyes were wild, and he was foaming at the mouth. "You—I didn't kill you-"

"Jesus," Vanya whispered, seeing all her siblings laid out on the floor, screaming their throats hoarse.

".05." Caduceus crouched over his writhing form. She kept repeating the name, and touched his cheek.

"Aah! Aaaaaaahhh!" The pain was as white-hot, but as Caduceus' fingertips touched his cheek, the people faded, their voices faltered, the blood stopped trying to drown him.

".05," Caduceus whispered, leaning down and hugging him. He struggled weakly, still screaming.

"I...didn't..."

Caduceus' cheeks were wet by now, too. "It's me," she whispered, and his sub-conscious heard her, and drowned out the dead people's clamor in his mind. He felt her against him, smelled her hair.

"Caduceus," he said, his eyes trying to focus on her.

"Yeah," she whispered. "I love you," she said.

The pain ebbed, went back, waxed, waned... then he could feel no more. The melee of emotions left him. There was only love for this girl who had saved him.

Her eyes widened. "You're okay," she murmured. She had never seen anyone recover from the Director's hold on his mind that quick. "I have to kill the Director, " she said quietly.

"No... just... I..." .05 breathed deeply, eyes closed, panting from the exhaustion the Director's mind attacks had left him.

She understood what he was trying to say without reading his mind.

"I do, too." He lost consciousness, and she laid him gently on the ground. She approached the Kraken and pressed a hand to his forehead, and his screams stopped abruptly, falling asleep in Vanya's arms. She went around doing this, and finally the room was quiet. The two absorbed the tranquility.

But it was promptly shattered by the Director.

"Well, well. A little heroine now, eh?" It said, appearing on the platform. "Too late. The end of the human race is coming near—in seven minutes and counting, to be exact.

Ah. You have brought the useless Hargreeves girl, but not so useless... she's the White Violin, isn't she?" Vanya clenched her fists, stiffening at the mention of the name she was given when she became an instrument of disaster.

"But now, she truly_ is _useless. But who knows? I may make the White Violin streak come out...and then she will be the powerful being you were supposed to be, Caduceus."

She felt white-hot anger course through her, and, surprising even herself with her speed, she bounded up stairs to the Director's chair on the platform.

"You—I could kill you any moment now," Caduceus said, breathing deeply.

"Ah, yes... your back hurts, does it not? You worthless piece of flesh. You threw away your wings, your training, everything...just for one person."

"Training?" Caduceus laughed bitterly.

"Yes, training. You were the best test-tube baby we have ever had with human technology. You were the perfect killing machine. An angel of destruction. Bones of the hardest, lightest metals, ligaments and muscles stronger than even a Gattox's, and even a mutant-evolved brain. Wings to enable you to fly. And you waste all these for just one person. One person, Caduceus! I could rule the world, and you can have anything you ever wanted."

Caduceus trembled. "I..."

"Yes... there is that flame, but I see your lust to make everything right, to show those people who ridiculed you, treated you as a freak that you can make them do anything _you _want, that they were wrong about you... Ah, yes... get rid of that hesitation in your heart... feelings and emotions are hindrances to the great plan I have for this little world of yours."

Caduceus listened with glazed eyes, but an image flashed into her mind. Her eyes were empty, devoid of any emotion. _Close... _The Director could feel her doubts ebbing away.

And then...

"You bastard,"she whispered. She rushed at it, kicking it. A small crack appeared on a glass box in its 'torso'.

She felt a white-hot needle of pain worming its way into her brain, but she continued punching it, kicking it. A glass box burst open, spilling its contents over her.

"You are a cold-blooded killer, Caduceus. I can put a chip in, and all your hesitations will vanish."

"Never," she forced out through gritted teeth as the needle made its way through her brain, slowly, excruciatingly. And then she felt an arm grow limp.

"I believe I have hurt the nerve connecting arm to brain?" The Director's gruesome brain seemed to smile at her with a macabre light. She punched towards it with her left arm, the one that was functioning. The box held, and the Director probed her brain with another needle, this one piercingly cold.

"This one will disable you legs... the next would disable you other arm... different other organs... that impudent backbone of yours, that _spine_... the last one would be your stupid human heart!"

Caduceus kicked at the box. A tiny crack appeared.

"At least... I have a heart, you bastard... a heart to love and to care and to _feel_! Not just the literal heart, like what you have in that box!"

The Director screamed, an inhuman, animal-like scream. "I will sever your heart piece from piece!" Caduceus felt a stab of pain at her heart and fell down, choking, trying to find air...

"One minute," the Director seemed to grin. Caduceus tried to reach towards a big switch on the device...

A shot cracked through the air. Fluids burst through the box as it shattered, leaving the brain stranded in the box, a bullet embedded deep into its center.

"Five seconds and counting," a voice from the device said. Caduceus reached up, gasping, and threw the switch. In a dream-like haze, she saw Vanya near her, holding a revolver. She retched, and threw up. When she had finished, she saw the blood was seeping out of the bandage again, and saw she had torn her back open when she kicked and punched against the Director.

"You saved me," she whispered. Vanya shook her head.

"It was more you than me," she said. "Your back!"

Caduceus shook, unable to move from her kneeling position.

"I will never be trusted here again," she said, closing her eyes and breathing in.

Vanya listened silently, putting down the revolver slowly, laying it carefully on the floor.

"You saved us," she said. "They'll surely-"

"They will not. And it was a horror I brought myself. This would never have happened if he didn't get the codes for working this.

Vanya nodded, knowing it was true.

"Vanya, I'll go away. Tell them I died. It's much simpler that way."

Vanya looked startled. "You aren't saying goodbye to... to .05?"

Caduceus' eyes softened a little at the mention of the name, but she was dead-set on leaving this place where she had almost caused the destruction of the human race.

"I have to do this. I don't want to be hated by people again. I know... I know your siblings are good at holding grudges.

Vanya cast her eyes down. "That's for sure," she muttered.

"Thank you for everything," Caduceus said, blinking back tears. "I'll just write a note to .05. Please tell him I managed to write it in my last breath.

Vanya nodded, but a thought came into her mind.

"What about your body?"

Caduceus shrugged. "Tell them I requested a closed coffin. I'm sorry about the expense, but... I have no desire to be embroiled in the media you Hargreeves are used to."

Vanya was a bit startled at the change of her tone, almost dead. "You're not okay, are you?" she asked quietly.

"I...no." She tried to move her right arm, but it was rendered useless. Nerves in her brain still felt like they were burning. "I've got to go, Vanya. I'll just write the note and then I'm gone."

Vanya nodded again, accepting the fact that she really was set on going away. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know. But one thing I do know is that I will save children from having the same fate as mine was supposed to be."

"Okay."

Caduceus had finished the note she had made from dipping a feather (which she had found in her pocket) in the small pool of her blood on the floor. It was sloppily written, for she was used to her right hand, and the 'mutant-evolved' mind she had hadn't gotten much schooling, and spelled most of the words wrong. It didn't matter. It might even make him think she was dying when she wrote the note then. She thrust the note towards Vanya.

"What about your back?"

"I heal fast," Caduceus said.

"No... just take this money so you can have it fixed up. Okay?"

Caduceus looked at the green bills in her hand. "Okay."

She was almost out the door when she turned back to look at .05 lying faceup on the floor. She breathed deeply.

Then she was gone.

Vanya wiped tears from her eyes.


End file.
